Lab 4

ArcMap Experience, Potential, and Pitfalls:

Overall, ArcMap is a powerful and easy to use tool. At first, the program can be quite daunting, since there are so many tabs and options for map customization. After following the tutorial, the basic functionality becomes more evident, and opportunities for personal customization begin to appear. It was very helpful to begin with the basics, and not jump directly into creating one's own map. Being able to draw from an established GIS database, proved to be an effective teaching vehicle. As an engineering student, I've worked with various software suites that lack the friendly user interface that ArcMap has. Its always a pleasure to work with such a clean, simple program.

The ability to create multiple maps onto one poster was especially useful for presentation purposes. Not only was I able to create several maps and a graph from the given data set, but I was also able to customize my poster with my desired background, fonts, and images. ArcMap is an all in one tool, that eliminates the needed for added customization in an outside program like Adobe Photoshop. This saved valuable time and effort. The various toolbars made customization quite simple. It was very intuitive to find the correct triggers and boxes to change any given element.

One potential pitfall of GIS is its reliance on statistics. Statistics can be be manipulated to suggest almost any conclusion. Thus, any user can take reputable data, and create a professional looking poster or map that suggests something that may be misleading or completely false. For example, in the classic Simpson's Paradox a smaller data set may actually be more accurate than a larger data set. For instance, when looking at the hiring patterns of a company, the overall trend may suggest that a higher percentage of male candidates are hired, when in fact a job analysis may show that females are hired at a higher percentage for each job. Similar problems may come to life with ArcMap, thus every viewer must keep this pitfall in mind.

ArcMap has great potential for all GIS students and professionals. ArcMap can take a large data set and extract it into layers, allowing the author to assemble a map or graphic of the desired components. Having this flexibility enables the author to quickly and effectively display data. The speed in which this process can now occur makes GIS much more dynamic. Previously, there was limited to no computer assistance, and the task of sifting through large data sets was a significant obstacle in GIS research. Time can now be spent on data collection and mining, and the display component is almost trivial thanks to ArcMap.

Furthermore, ArcMap and the ArcGIS software suite has revolutionized GIS. The ability to recognize trends and patterns is much easier. Unfortunately, this breakthrough also comes with an increased ability to report false or misleading information. Thus, its essential that the fundamentals of geography and statistics never be lost amidst all the functionality of ArcGIS.